Re: Boycott Microsoft Website

From: mcgrath@epx.cis.umn.edu (Michael David McGrath)

Date: Sat, 22 Mar 1997 00:00:00 +0000

In article <Pine.SOL.3.91.970320102239.949B-100000@omni.cc.purdue.edu>,
Chris Lomont  <clomont@omni.cc.purdue.edu> wrote:
>P.S. I am not a Microsoft supporter, but I realize that this is the way
>the business operates. Everyone just wants all this space to operate and
>make lots of software, but it is simple economics and history to see that
>the industry will become controlled by a few superpowers.
>

Waitaminute, Chris.  You say Microsoft is not a monopoly concerning
the software business as a whole.  Of course that's true.  That's like
saying the AT&T was a monopoly on the telephone, package/mail, and
transportation (i.e. "communications") business combined when it was
busted up.  Microsoft does indeed have something close to a monopoly --
but not on the entire software industry,
that's ridiculous.  They have a monopoly on the *operating systems*
market, and as operating systems are a prereq for most to use their
computers, Microsoft holds a position of substantial power and clout --
perhaps far more than they should be allowed, considering their dubious
ethical history.

I didn't read the post you responded to, so don't take this as
any sort of commentary on it.  I just read your post, and saw some of
the arguments in it as being a little... erm... unusually worded.
Maybe it's not what you intended to say, but Microsoft could be
reasonably said to have a near-monopoly -- especially considering
the rapid rise of home computer usage.  "Alternative" OS'es still have
some foothold in the market, but that foothold has been, and still is
slipping rapidly (on a scale relative to the lifetime of a large
corperation).

-Mike

References

Boycott Microsoft Website
Jack Teh <jteh@usthk.ust.hk>
Thu, 20 Mar 1997 00:00:00 +0000
Re: Boycott Microsoft Website
Chris Lomont <clomont@omni.cc.purdue.edu>
Thu, 20 Mar 1997 00:00:00 +0000

Referenced By

Boycott Microsoft Website
Jack Teh <jteh@usthk.ust.hk>
Thu, 20 Mar 1997 00:00:00 +0000
Re: Boycott Microsoft Website
Chris Lomont <clomont@omni.cc.purdue.edu>
Thu, 20 Mar 1997 00:00:00 +0000